


Xenial

by lcdsra



Series: LCDSRA's A-Z Soulmate Prompts [24]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27888070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lcdsra/pseuds/lcdsra
Summary: /ˈziːnɪəl/, /ˈziːnjəl/adjective1. of, relating to, or constituting hospitality or relations between host and guest.Or: Nikita’s happily ever after.
Relationships: Maria/Nikita
Series: LCDSRA's A-Z Soulmate Prompts [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935553





	Xenial

**Author's Note:**

> AU: You and your soulmate cannot physically harm each other.
> 
> Character(s): Nikita, Rune, Maria  
> Relationship(s): Maria/Nikita  
> Warning(s): Pneumonia mention, accidental injuries

In any other circumstances, Nikita would never have met her soulmate.

First of all, she was born in the USSR, in what was later called Belarus, then she left with her parents to the United States. Further more, she immediately traveled to another state for college.

She then got wrapped up with STARS work and any lingering hope of finding her soulmate was crushed. So she busied herself with work, ambitious in her job as much as she was in school. Nikita had just been promoted to weapons development, and only a month in, it was clear she had a blank spot in the natural sciences.

Her superior encouraged her to work with the Earth team and others to learn biology with them, as that was their main focus.

That alone didn’t get her to meet her soulmate, though. Coincidently, Rune Björk, someone who was supposedly a finance manager, was also studying with Earth, even though their work had nothing to do with biology. At least, not that she knew.

And even that wouldn’t have been enough for her to meet her soulmate, because Rune Björk had, for no reason, went out into the city one rainy night, and brought in a girl named Maria Bisset.

Bisset was, by all accounts, very close to dead. She was freezing, malnourished, dehydrated, and sick. Björk was also, apparently, part of the Elemental Earth’s recruitment program, and had flagged the girl earlier to keep an eye on.

Nikita accompanied Björk to the hospital.

“Where did you find her?” She asked, after the girl was wheeled back by the staff.

“Near a convent store.” Björk replied. “She might’ve been kicked out earlier in the night and forced outside.”

She tilted her head thoughtfully. “How long do you think she’s been out there?”

“I flagged her a week ago, but even then, she was showing symptoms of starvation and dehydration.” Björk said. “The doctors might know the exact number. Why?”

Why indeed. There was a strange pull Nikita felt towards Bisset, but she wouldn’t dare admit that. “I don’t know.”

Björk gazed at her. They were older than her, but not by much, and suddenly she seriously wondered how old they had joined, because decades of wisdom stared back at her. “I’ve seen this before, Petrova. If she’s your soulmate, it’s okay. If she isn’t, that’s okay as well.”

Nikita looked away. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She replied smoothly. Just because she had a hunch, an idea, didn’t mean anyone else had to be involved. “I was just curious.”

“Sure.” Björk smiled knowingly. Nikita would’ve glared, but a doctor came out from the back, which caught both their attentions.

“Anyone here with a Bisset?” The doctor asked. Only one other person was in the waiting room, who didn’t react.

“We are.” Björk replied, standing up. “I brought her in. How is she?”

“She’s certainly seen better days.” The doctor replied honestly. “Malnourished, dehydrated, and she has pneumonia, so,” He pointed at Björk, “You might want to monitor your health in case you got it. But other than that, she’s responding well to medication.”

“That’s good. When can we talk to her?” Björk asked.

“Tomorrow.” He replied. “For now, she needs to rest.”

: : :

The next day, Björk came in late. Luckily for them, they were on a break, so they managed to just slip in.

“Where were you?” She hissed quietly, handing them a copy of the thing they were studying, “I don’t know if Maxwell noticed you were gone, but you know he’s not kind to tardiness.”

“Stop acting like we’re high schoolers,” Björk whispered back. “I have an excuse and a potential new student.”

“Who is it?”

“Maria Bisset. The girl I found yesterday.” They replied. “She’s interested in biology and I think she’d be a great fit here.”

Nikita squinted at him. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing! Just,” they shrugged, glancing warily at Professor Maxwell, “be nice to her?”

“Who said I wasn’t going to be?” She frowned at them. But before they could respond, the Professor called them all back and the question was lost to time.

: : :

Bisset joined a week later. The Professor was ecstatic to have someone who was actually enthusiastic about his terrible science jokes and it was clear who the favorite was. Not like Nikita minded, she had maybe five more months of studying under Professor Maxwell.

She had a few suspicions that they were soulmates, certainly. They got along quickly and easily, falling into a rhythm that felt natural. Björk eventually stopped suspecting Nikita would hurt the girl and let them be.

What became even more curious, two months in, was when they were dissecting a pig. The anatomy of a pig was similar enough to a human that it was important to study, and apparently very interesting.

Nikita had elected to make visual and verbal observations, and let Maria do the cutting and removing.

“The pig was injected with coloring, so you all can see its body organs better.” The Professor explained as they were cutting. “Now, the partner with the scalpel may make the first cut.”

Bisset was careful, as careful as she could be, and really, it wasn’t her fault. Nikita had leaned in a little, and a hand drifted close to the scalpel. Maria jerked the knife a little too roughly which sent it flying at Nikita’s hand.

She entirely expected it to hurt. Everyone else turned at Bisset’s gasp and the Professor was already moving towards their table.

Except, nothing. The scalpel was, in fact, embedded into her palm, but no blood rushed out.

Those who saw it and understand it froze, including Nikita and Bisset. “Oh,” She said, in response to the silence that overtook the lab. “So that’s what it feels like.”

“Nikita, I’m so sorry, I-“ Bisset stuttered and stumbled over her words, unsure of herself and what to say. “We’re, I mean, does it hurt?”

“No,” Nikita replied. She carefully gripped the handle, and hissed when she attempted to remove it. “But that does.”

“Miss Bisset,” Professor Maxwell approached slowly, “Please remove the scalpel from your partner’s hand.”

Bisset nodded and replaced her fingers with Nikita’s on the handle, and pulled. There was no pain, not even a flash. Only a tiny bit of blood beaded up from the cut, and the cut appeared minuscule. Like it wasn’t the initial cut that caused the bleeding, but Nikita’s attempt to remove it.

“Miss Petroff, wash your hands and go to the hallway.” The Professor said. “Bisset, come with me.”

“It’s Petrova.” Nikita murmured, but complied anyway. Björk was staring at her, as was about half the class. She washed her hand carefully, inspecting the cut left behind. It was almost as if the blade entered her skin, but only really cut into it when she, Nikita, moved it.

Because soulmates couldn’t hurt each other, but people could certainly hurt themselves. She turned off the tap, dried her hands, and left through the back door.

The hallway was nearly silent. The walls were cool tile and felt nice against her clammy hands. She really did feel 16 years old again, waiting for her crush to leave so she could talk with him.

But no, she was 24, waiting to meet her soulmate. In retrospection, she was still very young to have met her soulmate. It was difficult to tell if someone was your soulmate, as there were many laws against attempting to physically attack anyone just to find them.

Only in rare, random, and coincidental incidents would soulmates be confirmed, like a lab accident.

The main door to the lab opened a few meters away from her. She glanced over and watched, to her surprise, Professor Maxwell exit without Bisset.

“Professor?” She greeted cautiously.

“Don’t take this personally,” he said, and Nikita knew that whatever he’d say next, she would take it personally. “But I am going to end your study with us early.”

That was unexpected. “Why?”

“I want Miss Bisset to have the best education she can, and I don’t want her to be distracted in my classroom.”

Nikita wanted to point out that his phrasing was rather protective for a teacher and a student, but the Professor actually seemed to sense her skepticism.

“I think Bisset has the potential to be an amazing human biologist. She just needs to keep her love life out of her work one.” He explained further. “I do, however, encourage you two to meet later. Congratulations on finding your soulmate. I think you two are good for each other.”

And with that, she was alone.

Nikita contemplated leaving the building entirely, but remembered there was a dead pig in the lab she technically had to finish, so she followed her Professor’s lead and went back into the classroom.

: : :

Nikita agreed to drop out of the biology course at the end of the week. Bisset stopped talking to her, even Björk noticed how much tension was between them. She left before Nikita got a chance to talk, until Friday.

“Bisset, wait.” Nikita called out, before she could run off. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Bisset replied, shifting nervously.

“Do you, I don’t know, want to meet up on the weekends?”

“No.” Bisset replied shortly. “Good day, Nikita.”

Björk approached slowly as Bisset practically sprinted out. “Ouch.”

“You can’t blame her.” Nikita replied, without looking at her friend. “I’m not exactly lovey dovey material.”

She could feel their eyes on her. “Still. You two were good friends before all this. That kind of reception hurts.”

“Yeah.”

: : :

Nikita met her soulmate, but that didn’t mean she wanted her back. Fair enough, Nikita was older, more secure in her position. She was also higher ranked, which could spell trouble for Bisset later.

Nikita also figured out her sexuality by the time she was in high school, and it was possible Bisset hadn’t had time before.

So she let it go. She wouldn’t push it, not until Bisset indicated a higher level of comfort around her.

: : :

It took two and a half years.

Nikita would be lying if she said she didn’t think about her all the time, like the weight of her rejection hung over her head. They passed each other sometimes, in the hallway. Nikita couldn’t even look at her without wishing to talk, but it wasn’t her place to start a conversation.

At least, she felt that way for awhile. One day, when she was feeling particularly bold, she stopped Bisset in the hallway and asked, “Are you free on Saturday at 12?”

Bisset had blinked in surprise, but a sly grin crossed her face. “Are you asking me out, Commander?”

The title caught her off guard, because just a few days ago, she had been promoted and the ranking was official but no one used it.

Which meant one of two things. She was either personally keeping tabs on her, or she heard through chatter in the lunchroom. “If you want to make it that.” She replied, hopefully smoothly.

Bisset’s eyes lingered on her face, before quickly scanning her up and down. “Then it’s a date. Meet me in the cafeteria, at the double doors.”

“I’ll see you then, Bisset.” She said, withholding a grin.

She was already moving toward the door, but paused. “Please,” she said, “Call me Maria.”

And just like that, Nikita felt like the weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

: : :

Nikita had never been so stressed in her life, when the weekend came. Sure she acted confident asking Bis-Maria out, but that didn’t stop her hands from shaking whenever she thought about seeing each other outside of work.

Ultimately, she decided on a black leather jacket, dark jeans, sneakers, and sunglasses. The weather was getting cooler, leaves were falling off the trees. She wasn’t about to sacrifice her comfort for a look. Unless Maria wanted her to, which then she would.

She left with five minutes to spare to the cafeteria, her phone and ID key tucked safely in a pocket. The ID key acted as a credit card as well, so unless they left the STARS campus, she was good.

Nikita arrived first. Not a surprise, so to pass the time, Nikita fished out her phone and started answering emails, occasionally glancing up. She finished up and sent off another email (to Commander Collins, from the Elementals) when Maria showed up, right on the dot.

Thankfully, Maria was also dressed informally and comfortably. She had a white shirt on, under a green sweater, and jeans with boots. She looked lovely.

“Hello, I hope I wasn’t keeping you too long.”

“You weren’t.” Nikita assured causally. “Do you have somewhere in mind for lunch?”

Maria shrugged, just a gentle lift of her shoulder. “Not particularly.”

“I know a place, then.”

Nikita gestured Maria to follow her. The place served breakfast and lunch, and it was light, so they could walk for awhile if they wanted.

Their conversations were awkward at first, 2 years and 7 months was a long time, but once they got going, it flowed like water. Maria was most likely going to study under Professor Maxwell and his assistant permanently, or until five years were up. After that, she wasn't sure.

Nikita was researching a way to optimize a current weapon that Elemental Air reported failing. It involved a lot of back and forth with the agents who experienced the failure, the handlers who had a birds-eye view, and of course, the commanders.

The food was good, but wasn’t the best part of the day, which was exactly what she had hoped for.

They agreed to meet up again next weekend, and when Maria was out of sight, Nikita’s smile slowly faded.

Yes, this felt right.

**Author's Note:**

> I will love you  
> Like I've never been hurt  
> Run through fire for you  
> Like I've never been burned.  
> I'm gonna risk it all like I've never lost  
> Gonna give it all I've got
> 
> \- Never Been Hurt by Demi Lovato


End file.
